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Using the basic WordPress set up allows you to have pages appear on your site as a menu. Most themes do this by default. When you look at a WordPress Theme (which is the default for new sites), pages appear across the screen below the large graphic header. Any new page you add will appear there as well.

But what if you want to have a menu that includes posts, categories, Internet sites or even documents? Or maybe you don’t want to have all the pages show up on the menu. That’s where WordPress Custom Menus comes in. Here’s a very quick How-To on using this feature of WordPress.

To create a custom menu:

1. In the Dashboard scroll down to Appearance and then click on Menus.

2. Click on the + tab just above Menu Name in the top-middle of the screen.

3. Give the menu a name and click Save Menu.

4. On the left-hand side of the screen you can select from existing pages on your site by putting a check next to one or more pages then click on Add to Menu. You can also add a post as a menu item. How cool is that?!

5. You can add custom links by entering a URL and giving the link a name. Click on Add to Menu and you’ll see your link appear on the menu.

6. You can order your menu items by dragging them up or down to reposition them.

7. Be sure to click Save Menu before proceeding.

To add your new menu to your site:

1. Click on Widgets under Appearance in the Dashboard.

2. Find the Widget area where you’d like the menu to appear. Open that Widget area and drag the Custom Menu Widget to that area.

3. Select the menu you’d like to use (assuming you have more than one), give it a name and save it.

Now you’re all set. Go to your site and see what chaos you have wrought!

Pointing readers to a specific spot on a new post, a previous post or a WordPress page can be an efficient way to guide readers to see specific content without having them scroll down the page or search the text. An anchor fills the bill.

An anchor is a tiny bit of code that you insert at a specific spot on your post or page. When you place an anchor on your post or page, you can link to it from any place on the post or page or any other post or page. Try this: Click Jump Me Down and see how it works.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to using an anchor:

Find the location on your post/page where you want the reader to land.

Put your cursor next to a word somewhere down the page that will be your anchor. This is usually the first word in the content being linked to.

In the upper right-hand corner of your post or page edit window, click on the Text tab. This will change your page from a visual format to a text or coding format. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the computer gibberish. We’re just adding a tiny piece of code.

To the left of your anchor word paste in this code:<p id=”jumpdown”/p>
You can use any word to replace “jumpdown”.

Click the Visual tab next to the Text tab and scroll up in your edit window and type some text that will be the link to the anchor. This could be something as simple as “Click Here” or “espaňol”. Click the Text tab again, find your link to the anchor and paste this code next to it:
<a href=”#jumpdown”></a>

Now cut your link word(s) (“Click Here” or “espaňol”) and paste it between the > < symbols so the link looks like this:
<a href=”#jumpdown”> Click Here </a>
Notice that the anchor and the link use the exact same word: jumpdown. The words have to match so the link knows where to find the anchor.

Test it out by saving your post/page as a draft then click on Preview.

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And here you are . . . right down here where there might be some links, instructions or a Spanish translation.
Click to Jump back to the top.

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That’s all there is to linking to an anchor when both the link and anchor are on the same page. But how does it work if you are linking from one post/page to another or even one WordPress site to another?

The process is almost the same with this one small difference:

The anchor remains exactly the same, but the link needs to know on which page or post the anchor resides. So the link, instead of this – <a href=”#jumpdown”> Click Here </a>- would now look like this:

Properly presented, content on your WordPress site can invite users to read all of what you have to say. Having an action word in your title and a colorful graphic are two useful strategies.

The “Continue Reading . . .” button is to the right in the first row of editing tools. Place your cursor where you’d like the jump to occur then click on the button marked with the red circle above.

But sometimes you have a lot to say and seeing 300-400 words cascading down the screen can be intimidating. That’s where the “Continue Reading . . . ” link can help.

Placing the “Continue Reading . . .” link in an appropriate place 150 to 200 words into your post can make it appear to be an easier read. You might place it after a paragraph or perhaps at a place that teases the reader: “During our recent field trip, four students plunged” – Continue Reading . . .

Copy the embed code. The width of the calendar can be changed once you paste the embed code into a page on your WordPress site.

Now go to your WordPress site and go to > Dashboard > Pages > Add New.

Enter a title for the page (Calendar) then click on the Text tab in the upper right of the edit window. Put your cursor in the edit window and paste the embed code.

You’ll want to make the width of the calendar about 600 instead of 800 and about 450 high instead of 600 if you have a typical WordPress theme, but you can experiment with the size. Publish your new calendar page. If you like what it looks like, you’re good to go and you’ll see the Calendar tab on the top menu of your site with all the other pages if you have your top menu showing pages. If the calendar is too big or too small, go back in and edit the embed code.

Okay, blame it on texting and social media if you like, but the exclamation point’s overuse is sucking the life out of the grand old dame of punctuation. What used to be reserved for shouting “Fire! Run for your life!” is now being added to “Thank you!”, “See you Saturday!” and “My cat had kittens!” And if one exclamation point is good, two must be better and three, well, “You Rock!!!”

Because the exclamation point is meant to indicate yelling, using it in a blog post, email or text message with words that you wouldn’t shout in normal conversation sounds like you are hollering. The unnecessary use of the exclamation point in writing is a visual distraction which translates into a non-verbal impediment toward understanding what’s being communicated.

And don’t get me started on typing in all capital letters.

The best advice: Don’t use an exclamation point to replace good writing.

Mark Twain chastised writers who used exclamation points as laughing at their own humor, “all of which is very depressing, and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life.”

Sometimes your new post isn’t for everyone. Perhaps you’d like to have your parents know about an upcoming field trip and why you need 10 volunteers. You might include some pictures of last year’s field trip and a map to the site. Sure, you can email parents, but an email disappears quickly into the virtual universe and an email makes it difficult to carry on a conversation with some replies going to everyone and some going just to you. Using post comments is much easier.

Here’s an easy way to create a post that is password protected. Just create the post and before publishing, click on Edit next to Visibility in the Publish box. Select “Password protected” and enter a simple password.

If you use Subscribe2, in your excerpt, identify the password your users can use to access the post. Either way, your password will be part of the email that Subscribe2 sends out to users. If you don’t have your WordPress site set up to use Subscribe2, you can send an email from your Bethel email account to your users including the link and the password.

If you are using Subscribe2, be sure in Settings to set “Send Emails for Password Protected Posts” to “Yes”.

This shouldn’t be used for confidential information, but it is a great way to direct a post to a specific group.

In WordPress version 4.2.2 you can make changes to widgets and see the changes in real time. Here’s what it looks like:

Select the widget from the list on the left, then make any edits you want. Save at the top of the sidebar and click the “X” to close. It is as easy as that. And the beauty of this feature is that you see the changes you make in real time before you save and commit to the changes. Here’s a quick video snippet so you can see what it looks like:

Although you can have a self-contained learning experience on the Khan Academy’s Web site, the Bethel School District sees the Khan Academy not as a substitute for classroom teaching and learning, but as a valuable additional resource for both teachers and students. Teachers might use a video in place of a chapter in the text book or a lecture. Students can use Khan Academy to review materials they don’t quite understand or learn a skill or concept that was taught while they were absent or not paying attention.

It is important to match the videos with your students’ skills/knowledge and to the curriculum you are delivering. Check the videos for both accuracy and student engagement before making them available.

1. How to navigate the site and find resources.
2. Evaluate the quality and accuracy of the content of Khan Academy.
3. Learn ways of making videos available to students.
4. Share how these resources can be used at your grade level and with your curriculum.
5. Demonstrate how videos can be embedded into your WordPress site.

As you think of more ideas for using Khan Academy in your classroom, leave a comment. Or if you just have an opinion or question, let us hear from you.